Joey Cape will be the first to tell you that the past few years haven’t exactly been the easiest on him. Of course, there’s the problems that affect many an aging punk—Cape is closing in on 50, and it’s not like there’s a pension plan for punk rock—but then there are the permanent departures that continue to mount as a scene that was built on the “live fast, die young” mantra is now losing some of its finest members. It’s a huge reason why Lagwagon’s most recent album, 2014’s incredible Hang, was, well, pretty fuckin’ dark, from the lyrical content to the noose on the cover art. So when you first fire up Cape’s new solo album, Stitch Puppy, you might think you’ll be in for a downer—and, yeah, you’ll get that, at times. But it’s really so much more.